Double Chocolate Brownies
by CommonSense
Summary: Nicola Kingsley has hated the Weasley twins for as long as she could remember, but when Fred starts finding ways to insert himself into her life, her feelings start to change. FredOC.
1. Joke Teeth

Disclaimer – I own Nicola, no one else.

A/N – This takes place during the twins' and Nicola's seventh year.

It was a particularly windy afternoon in Hogsmeade and Nicola was brushing her dark hair out of her blue eyes for what felt like the billionth time when she felt a slight pinch on her left buttock. Without even stopping to think she whipped around with her wand out, ready to curse the offending party into oblivion. When she saw the identical mops of Weasley hair she simply rolled her eyes, turned around and continued walking. As much as she would love to curse the Weasley twins, she simply didn't have the patience to deal with them today. She clutched her Slytherin scarf more closely to herself and suddenly she felt the pinch again.

"For Merlin's sake, what do you want?" Nicola turned around, exasperated. She was surprised to find that while she had moved forward about ten feet, the twins had not. She raised an eyebrow at their mischievous grins. As if answering her unasked question, Fred pulled a set of joke teeth out of the pocket of his coat. Nicola was suddenly struck with an idea. She strolled back toward the twins.

"How does it work?" she asked innocently.

"I'm so glad you asked, Niki-kins," said Fred.

"Don't call me that."

Ignoring her request, Fred continued. "We charmed these teeth to bite anything in front of them. Not hard, mind you, just enough to get someone's attention."

"Then we attached a string and charmed it to act like elastic and snap back to the owner after it bites," George finished.

"Pretty simple really." Both Fred and George looked extremely pleased with themselves.

"That's actually kind of brilliant," Nicola said, holding out her hand. "May I see it?"

Overjoyed, Fred handed her the teeth. Nicola looked at the invention for a moment before throwing it on the ground and stomping on it as hard as she could with her boot. The twins' jaws dropped as the teeth shattered into tiny pieces on the cobblestones.

"What did you do that for?!" Fred asked. Nicola grabbed the front of Fred's coat and pulled him down to her level.

"If you ever touch my arse again, Weasley, it'll be a part of you that I'll be stomping with my boot." With a smirk plastered on her face, Nicola let go of Fred and headed into the nearby bookshop she had been intending to visit when the twins had so rudely interrupted her.

As Nicola browsed through the Magical Creatures section, her mind kept drifting back to the twins. She had learned to hate them early on in her first year as they repeatedly pulled pranks on her housemates. She hadn't actually been on the receiving end of one of their pranks until her third year, when they had turned a number of Slytherins' hair red and gold before a quidditch match. Aside from the pranking, Nicola and the twins had never had an actual conversation before today.

Nicola found the book she was looking for, "Fire and Magical Creatures: From Ashwinders to Salamanders." She stood in line to pay for the book and her mind wandered back to the twins again. It was about time someone gave them a taste of their own medicine and she'd really enjoyed smashing those dumb joke teeth. She supposed the twins didn't think she would fight back, which is why they thought they could get away with pinching her arse. She did have a reputation as the quiet, book smart type, but Nicola had never been one to take bullying lying down.

Upon exiting the book shop, Nicola glanced around quickly for any sign of the pranksters before making her way back up to the castle to read her new book.


	2. Detention

Disclaimer – I own Nicola, no one else.

A/N – This takes place during the twins' and Nicola's seventh year.

Over the next few days Nicola was on the lookout for the twins everywhere she went. She was smart enough to know that she wouldn't get away with smashing their invention without some sort of retaliation from them. It happened in the middle of a Transfiguration lesson, a class the three of them had together. Professor McGonagall was teaching them about conjuring spells. With a flourish of her wand, McGonagall conjured a brown rabbit out of thin air.

"Now students, you will be starting with smaller animals. Today we will practice conjuring mice. The spell is 'murine' and the wand movement is just like this," McGonagall said as she flourished her wand again, this time summoning several small white mice.

Everyone began practicing the incantation and attempting to summon mice. After a few minutes, Fred and George had become very bored and decided to transfigure random objects on Nicola's desk. Because Nicola was concentrating, it wasn't until her desk mate, a Ravenclaw girl named Emily, tapped her on the shoulder that she realized all of her books had been turned into flowers. Sighing, Nicola turned around to see the twins pretending to work. Nicola changed all of the flowers back into books and stealthily cast wingardium leviosa on a book from the bookcase behind the twins. She let it go and it slammed down on to the twin's desk, causing them both to fall out of their chairs. McGonagall glared at them as they sat back down.

Nicola rolled her eyes and went back to trying to conjure some mice. A few more minutes passed and George decided to try to chat up a pretty Hufflepuff girl at the next table over. Fred, however, still wanted to bother Nicola. He cast a vanishing spell on one of the front legs of Nicola's desk, causing it to crash to the ground and scatter her books all over the floor. Fed up, Nicola turned to Fred and cast aguamenti, causing a spout of water to fly out of her wand and drench him.

"That is enough!" McGonagall shouted, "Detention for both of you tonight!" The whole class watched as McGonagall calmly cast a drying spell on Fred and fixed Nicola's desk.

"Get back to work!" McGonagall barked. The students sheepishly went back to practicing transfiguration while Nicola gathered her things and put them back on her desk. She shot Fred one last glare before sitting down and once again attempting to conjure some mice.

* * *

Five hours later Nicola found herself in McGonagall's office, waiting for Fred. He showed up, late of course, with a big smile on his face.

"Where's McGonagall?" he asked.

"She left. She wanted me to tell you that detention is cancelled."

"Really?!"

Nicola rolled her eyes, "Of course not, you twat. We're cleaning an empty classroom down the hall that Peeves managed to cover with Merlin knows what."

Nicola led the way to the dirty classroom and almost gagged when she opened the door. Every single table and chair was overturned and every inch of the wall was covered in sticky purple goo.

"What is that stuff?" Fred asked.

"I don't want to know." Nicola answered, picking up a nearby bucket of water and a sponge. She sighed and began scrubbing the wall. Fred followed suit on the opposite wall and they worked in silence. After a few minutes, Fred decided to voice his displeasure with their punishment.

"This is boring."

Nicola rolled her eyes and turned around to face Fred, "Of course it is, detention isn't supposed to be fun."

"What if we make it fun?" Fred asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Can't you take anything seriously?" Nicola countered, resisting the urge to roll her eyes again.

"Nope." Fred answered simply, the trademark Weasley grin gracing his face once again. Nicola sighed and went back to scrubbing the wall.

Fred strolled across the room, "Can't you take a joke?"

"Nope." Nicola answered, not bothering to turn around. If she had turned around, she would have seen the mischievous glint in Fred's eyes before he wrung out his sponge directly over Nicola's head, drenching her in soapy water. Spluttering, Nicola turned around.

"What the bloody hell was that for?!"

"That was for earlier, in class." Fred folded his arms in front of his chest and raised an eyebrow, daring Nicola to retaliate. True to form, Nicola grabbed a handful of the sticky purple goo on the wall and smashed it into Fred's face. Surprised, Fred stumbled backward and tripped over Nicola's bucket. He grabbed Nicola's arm to prevent himself from falling. Unprepared, Nicola jerked forward and fell to the floor with Fred, her overturned bucket spilling soapy water everywhere. The two of them were now in a slightly compromising position. Fred, still covered in purple goo, was flat on his back on the floor and Nicola, still covered with soapy water, was straddling Fred's midsection. Unable to contain herself, Nicola burst out laughing.

"Purple's a good color on you, Weasley." She said between fits of giggles.

Fred wiped the purple goo off of his face and smiled, "I don't think I've ever seen you laugh, Niki-kins."

Nicola stopped laughing immediately. "I told you not to call me that." Fred simply winked at her in response. It was at this point that Nicola realized just how close she was to Fred. She was so close she could see each individual freckle on his face. Somehow, even with traces of purple goo still on his face, Fred looked very attractive. Nicola shook her head, attempting to get rid of the faint blush that was slowly making its way up her face. She quickly stood up and walked away, trying to put some distance between her and Fred. She pulled out her wand and dried herself off, picked up her bucket, and used aguamenti to fill it with water again.

"We should hurry up and finish this," Nicola said, scrubbing the wall again. Fred shrugged and stood up, wiping the purple goo off his face. He picked up his sponge and walked over to his bucket to start cleaning again.

An hour later, after many failed attempts from Fred to start a conversation, they finally finished cleaning the walls. Nicola hastily put away the buckets and sponges in a nearby broom closet and left Fred standing in front of the classroom without so much as a goodbye.


	3. Library

Disclaimer – I own Nicola, no one else.

A/N – This takes place during the twins' and Nicola's seventh year.

Nicola was in her usual spot in back of the library. She was surrounded by a few open books she was using to write her Muggle Studies paper. She was so engrossed in her studies that she didn't notice a certain red-haired boy peeking out from behind some shelves, strangely without his twin. Upon spotting Nicola studying, Fred's face broke into a grin and he immediately made a beeline for her. He quietly sat down at her table.

Nicola had a strange feeling that someone was staring at her. She casually glanced up from her paper and let out a small squeak when she saw Fred sitting directly across from her, grinning.

"Bloody hell, Weasley, you scared me!" she said in a harsh whisper. "What are you even doing in the library in the first place? Can you even read?"

Fred tried his best to look offended, "I can read; I just choose not to because I find it boring. And since my twin is otherwise engaged with someone of the female persuasion, I thought I'd drop in on my favorite Slytherin."

Nicola snorted, "Right. Why are you really here?"

"Maybe I need help with an assignment?" Fred offered.

Nicola rolled her eyes, as she found herself doing quite often when she was around Fred. She sighed and rolled up her Muggle Studies essay, clearly she wasn't going to be getting any work done today with Fred around. Before she could put the essay away, Fred snatched it out of her hands and began reading it.

When he'd finished, Fred raised an eyebrow at Nicola, "You're in Muggle Studies by choice?"

Nicola nodded, "Just because I'm a Slytherin doesn't mean I hate muggles and muggleborns. I've never been one for all of that pureblood superiority bollocks." Fred stared at Nicola inquisitively, as if trying to figure her out. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, Nicola grabbed her essay back and put it in her bag.

"Why?" Fred asked after an unusually long silence.

"What?"

"Why don't you care about all of that pureblood superiority stuff?" Fred seemed genuinely interested, which was very strange.

Nicola nervously ran a hand through her hair before answering. "Look, I know what it's like to be bullied for being different, okay?"

Fred leaned closer to her and propped his head up with his hand, "Go on."

Nicola looked at him incredulously. Why was Fred so interested in her life all of a sudden? Did he actually care? Maybe it was out of some deep seated need to justify herself, but Nicola found herself wanting to tell Fred her story.

"My parents and I lived in a muggle neighborhood for a while when I was a kid. The other children in the neighborhood found out I could sometimes do weird magic stuff. They wouldn't let me play with them after that. They started bullying me. They would kick sand in my face at the playground, throw eggs at our house, and hold me down and write freak on my forehead in permanent ink. When I finally got my Hogwarts letter, my parents decided we'd better move to a more wizard populated area and I never saw those kids again."

Fred smiled as Nicola finished her story. "So that's why you're so feisty."

Nicola groaned, "I tell you a really traumatic story from my past and that's what you say in response? There's something wrong with you, Fred." Nicola packed up her books and left the library in a huff. She was so angry with herself for opening up to Fred that she hadn't even noticed she called him by his first name.


	4. Kitchen

Disclaimer – I own Nicola, no one else.

A/N – This takes place during the twins' and Nicola's seventh year.

For the next few days, Nicola actively avoided Fred and ignored all of his attempts to get her attention. She felt so dumb for telling him such a personal story about her life when he obviously didn't care at all. He just liked to tease her and prank her, and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of her retaliation anymore.

Occasionally, when Nicola couldn't sleep, she would sneak into the kitchen late at night and bake. Tonight was one of those nights. She greeted the house elves as she entered through the portrait hole and made her way over to her usual cooking space. She shrugged off her robe and threw it on a nearby table. She rolled up the sleeves on her green shirt and put on an apron to protect the rest of her pajamas. Nicola smiled and set about preparing her favorite brownie recipe.

Thirty minutes later Nicola was sitting at a table waiting for her brownies to finish baking in the oven. Her gaze snapped to the portrait hole when she realized it had suddenly opened. Lucky for her, the last person in the world she wanted to see at that particular moment stepped into the kitchen. Fred looked around the kitchen and smiled brightly when his eyes fell on Nicola.

"Niki-kins!"

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?" asked Nicola, exasperated. As much as she wanted to run for the door and continue avoiding Fred at all costs, Nicola couldn't let her brownies burn. She was just going to have to put up with him for a few minutes.

"Thousands." Fred said, taking a seat across from Nicola.

Nicola raised an eyebrow at him, "That's not going to happen."

"Why not?"

"Because believe it or not, I don't like you." Nicola said, folding her arms over her chest.

"Why? Is it because I called you feisty?"

"No, it's because you can't take anything seriously. I told you a personal story and you made it into a joke. For Merlin's sake, not everything has to be funny."

Fred's face fell, "I'm sorry, Nicola. I didn't mean to make it into a joke. I was giving you a compliment. Not many people can come away from a situation like that as a better person, but you did. And now you don't take rubbish from anyone. It's a very admirable quality."

Nicola was taken aback, not just because Fred had used her first name, but because he seemed genuinely sincere. She'd never seen him so serious. She opened her mouth to respond when she heard a faint ringing noise. She shook her head and stood up.

"Leaving so soon?" Fred asked with a worried look.

Nicola shook her head again, grabbing a pair of potholders and pulling her brownies out of the oven.

Fred watched Nicola slice the brownies and stack them on a plate in silence. "Those smell amazing, I had no idea you could bake."

Nicola let a small smile grace her face, "If you're good, maybe I'll let you have one." She set the plate of brownies and two glasses of milk down on the table.

Fred gave her his best puppy dog eyes and Nicola couldn't help but giggle. "Oh alright, you can have some."

Fred excitedly shoved an entire brownie in his mouth. After he washed it down with milk, he looked very pleased. "I think that's the best brownie I've ever had in my life."

Nicola finished her brownie. "Thanks. It's my mum's recipe. Double chocolate."

"Well tell your mum she's amazing!" Fred exclaimed before shoving another entire brownie in his mouth. Nicola smiled and stood up, grabbing the plate of brownies. She carefully wrapped them in some parchment paper and set them down in front of Fred.

"You can have the rest of them."

Fred finished his milk. "Really?"

Nicola nodded, "I'm going back to bed. Enjoy them." Nicola picked up her robe and headed for the portrait hole.

"Wait!" Fred grabbed the brownies and dashed after her. "I should escort you back to your common room. You could get into trouble for being out after hours."

Having made the trip to and from the kitchens after hours plenty of times, Nicola had no problem walking back to her common room alone, but she figured she'd humor Fred.

"All right, fine. Let's go then."

It was a relatively quiet journey through the castle, as they didn't want to alert anyone that they were sneaking around after hours. They were walking through the dungeons when they heard another set of footsteps up ahead. Nicola motioned for Fred to be quiet and pulled him into a nearby alcove behind a suit of armor. Nicola knew Professor Snape patrolled the dungeons at night and had hidden from him in this very alcove many times before, but never with another person. It seemed much smaller now that Fred was squished in there with her. The two of them refrained from talking in case it might alert Snape to their presence.

Nicola tried to focus on listening to Snape's footsteps, but all she could think about was how she was pressed up against Fred's very firm chest. Nicola tried to back up and put some distance between the two of them, but she tripped on a loose stone. She would have made quite a bit of noise if Fred hadn't grabbed her around the waist with one arm and braced his other arm against the wall to prevent her from falling against the suit of armor. Now Nicola's hands were pinned between her and Fred and she could feel his muscles under his thin shirt. Quidditch had certainly toned him up a bit. Nicola was desperately trying not to blush.

Snape's footsteps had faded into the distance and Nicola was attempting to free herself from Fred's grasp when he leaned in closer to her.

"What are you doing?" Nicola whispered, confused. She could feel his breath on her skin and it was giving her goosebumps.

After a moment of hesitation, Fred closed the distance between them and lightly brushed his lips against Nicola's. It was gentle, as if he were asking for permission. When Nicola didn't pull away, Fred snaked a hand through her long hair and placed the other on her waist, pulling her closer. Nicola all but melted into Fred's embrace, relishing the feeling of his lips on hers. He tasted like brownies. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and she gladly opened her mouth to deepen the kiss, reaching her hands up to run her fingers through his soft Weasley hair.

On the floor next to them were the squashed remains of the forgotten brownies.

* * *

A/N: The end! This was my first multi-chapter fic, so tell me what you thought of it!


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